Death toll mounts for journalists in Philippines

Another Philippine journalist was killed in a drive-by
shooting on Wednesday, bringing to at least six the total slain in the country
this year. In none of the cases have police determined whether they were killed
because of their work as journalists or for other reasons. The investigations
into the cases appear to have gone nowhere and get only brief media attention.

In the most recent case, Vergel Bico, 41, an editor for the weekly
newspaper Kalahi, who had written about illegal
gambling, was shot twice in the head while riding his motorcycle in Calapan
City in Mindoro Oriental province, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of
Manila, according to The
Associated Press.

Police Chief D'Artagnan Katalbas told AP the gunman fled on
a motorcycle driven by another man. No motive has been established, but
Katalbas said investigators were "not discounting" that the killing
was related to Bico's work as a journalist.

The mounting death toll for journalists in the Philippines
reflects the inability of the government to maintain law and order, and
journalism has become a high-risk occupation under President Benigno Aquino's
administration. He has not been able to deliver on a promise to bring the killers
of journalists to justice.

Despite Aquino's vow both before and after his election in
June 2010 to address the murder of journalists, the police and court system remain
unable to successfully pursue investigations that result in trials and
convictions. The country ranks third-worst worldwide, after Iraq and Somalia,
on CPJ's 2013 Impunity
Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered regularly and
the killers go free. CPJ continues to chronicle the deaths of journalists in
the Philippines, but with poor investigative and prosecutorial work there, we
have not been able to firmly establish the motives behind the deaths.

CPJ has documented the following cases of Philippine
journalists killed in 2013:

On August 29, 2013, two unidentified gunmen on
a motorcycle shot DxLS Love Radio commentator Fernando
Solijon while he was walking to his car after having dinner with a friend at
around 10:30 p.m. in Bur-un village of Iligan City, in Lanao del Norte province
of Northern Mindanao region, according to news
reports. The news
accounts said the assailants shot him several times at close range in the
head, abdomen, and shoulder.

On August 1, Mario Sy, 53,
a freelance photographer, was shot in his home in southern General Santos City.
He was the third journalist to be killed in the Philippines in less than a
week. An unidentified gunman entered Sy's home and shot him twice in front of
his wife and daughter, according to news reports.

On July 30, two assailants
on motorcycles shot Richard Kho and Bonifacio Loreto in front of a convenience
store on around 11 p.m. in the Quezon City neighborhood of Manila, according
to news
reports. Authorities said the journalists died from multiple gunshot wounds
and that police recovered several .45 caliber and 9-millimeter shells from the
crime scene, the
reports said. Both reporters were columnists for the Aksyon Ngayon (Action Now), a
weekly tabloid newspaper that had published only one issue a few weeks before
the killings. The publication intended to focus on local community issues,
including reporting on corruption.

On April 22, Mario Vendiola
Baylosis, 33, was killed by two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle in the town
of Kabasalan in the southern province of Zamboanga Sibugay as he was heading
home from work on a motorcycle. Baylosis, who was known on his radio show as
Kuya Mar, worked as an announcer for Radyo Natin, which covers news and
entertainment. He also worked as a news correspondent for DXNC-Radyo Suhnan in
the municipality of Siay.

A complete list of journalists killed in the Philippines can
be found here. CPJ's
comprehensive coverage of the country is available here.

Bob Dietz, coordinator of CPJ’s Asia Program, has reported across the continent for news outlets such as CNN and Asiaweek. He has led numerous CPJ missions, including ones to Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Follow him on Twitter @cpjasia and Facebook @ CPJ Asia Desk.